You & Me
by EvilRegalBre
Summary: It was never supposed to be like this. They weren't supposed to have to live without her...
1. Chapter 1: You & Me

You + Me

_This story is inspired by the song You and Me by P!nk & Dallas Green_

_I hope you enjoy it. Warning, it's very angsty._

Emma stood there, unable to breathe, unable to move. She heard someone shouting her name, she felt someone's arms envelope her. But she was numb, she couldn't feel her limps, she couldn't feel anything but the pain in her chest. It was as if she had been the one struck, as if she was the one who lay dying. She would have rather had it been her. She would rather it be her laying the ground, lifeless. She couldn't even bring herself to cry, because she felt nothing; nothing but the burning, stabbing pain where her heart used to be.

The barn was filled with noise, but she heard none of it. Someone was pulling her away, but as they pulled her off her feet, she crumbled. She knelt there, the freezing muck beneath her jeans, seeping into the denim, but even that was nothing compared to the ice she felt enveloping her being. She was so cold, numb, lost. Reaching out a hand she finally touched the lifeless figure laying there before her. How had everything gone so wrong? They had planned it all so meticulously. Nothing like this was supposed to happen. Good was always supposed to win, right? Isn't that what her parents were always preaching, to have hope, hope would lead them through the darkness. And no one had more hope that her in that moment. This was all a dream, she would wake up in a moment and everything would be fine.

"Emma, we need to go, we can't stay here." A voice beside her finally rang through the fog in her brain. Stunned she looked up into the face of her mother, Snow White, or Mary Margaret as she's known in this world. The epitome of good always wins, the voice of every Hope filled speech, was telling her she had to walk away right now. Could she not see that her daughter was broken? That something inside her was now in a million tiny painful pieces.

"The ambulance is here, they're going to move the body," Mary Margaret whispered, finally seeing the anguish in her daughter's eyes. "Robin is going to ride with her…" Emma jerked her head suddenly, blonde hair whipping her mother in the face. She found Robin Hood standing across the room, talking to a paramedic. He was trying to relay what had happened. Emma just stared at him, how was he not with her now. How was he not holding her hand, how was he still functioning. He was her Soul Mate, he should be the most broken of all people. Something about this was all wrong. The darkness in Emma was swelling; she was getting angry; angry that he was acting fine, as if everything was alright. As if his True Love wasn't laying on the dirty ground in a barn, dying…

When the paramedics finally came over to load Regina onto the stretcher, Emma reached out to grabbed Regina's hand, a gargled sound coming from her mouth. She couldn't even speak, speaking hurt too much. She followed the stretcher to the doors of the ambulance, where they began loading the stretcher. Robin moved to jump into the truck after the paramedic; Emma moved to stop him, to take his place. She withdrew her self suddenly, what was she thinking? Robin caught her movement right before the driver closed the doors, the look on his face was confusion, he didn't understand…

"Emma, honey, you're freezing," She heard her father say as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She didn't respond, she just stood there and rested her head on his shoulder, taking a little comfort in having someone to comfort her for once in her life. "Zelena is powerless now, defeated; I'm taking her to the station, would you like to come?"

Emma nodded, as she still couldn't bring her vocal cords to work properly.

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><p>Mary Margaret had left in a different vehicle, riding with Killian back to her apartment; her baby was fast asleep in his seat in the back of the car. "I can't believe this happened, all the times I wished ill of her, I never really wanted her dead."<p>

"She'll pull through this, mate," Hook replied, not even sure why he was in the car with Emma's mother. He supposed they were all still on edge, and they hadn't wanted Snow to go home alone. David as acting Sheriff has needed to take Zelena to the station to lock her up. But he still wished he hadn't been left on babysitting duties. He should be with Emma. He needed to be there when she told Henry what had happened, Emma needed him…

It wasn't sitting right with him though, the way Emma had behaved after Regina fell. The look on her face, he'd never seen that look before. Even in Neverland when she'd spoken of her time in the system, spoken of losing all hope; even when she'd spoken of Neal breaking her heart in that cave; he'd never seen her look more broken than when Regina hit the ground.

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><p>The night replayed in Emma's mind as she sat in the passenger seat of the patrol car, on the way to the station. They'd stormed the barn; they'd been the white knights, on a mission to save her little brother. Zelena had stolen him from Snow's arms when he was only minutes old. They had been quite the spectacle, all armed, ready to take on the Wicked Witch. They had exactly what they needed to destroy her, they knew her secret. They knew where to hit her to destroy her forever. Her pendant held all her power, they'd only needed to stop her long enough to snatch it from her throat. It had all been going accord to plan. Regina had stridden forward, confronting her sister, it had been magnificent to see Regina transform. They white light had sprung from Regina like beacons from her fingertips. The light magic had struck Zelena, throwing her back and breaking the time circle. The pure, good in Regina had been so beautiful. Emma had known it was in her the entire time; it was so amazing to finally have Regina realize it for herself though. Zelena had crumbled under the force of the magic; crippled by its force. Good always wins… At least that was supposed to be how it worked. Something they hadn't counted on though, was a counter spell. When Regina grabbed the pendent from Zelena's throat, a counter spell had come with it, knocking Regina across the room, she'd hit a beam in the barn, a large crack sounding through the room, before her body had tumbled to the frozen floor. Zelena had cackled, blood seeping from Regina's head to the floor, a river forming in the design Zelena had scratched into the barn floor. Regina hadn't moved after that…<p>

The pain in Emma's chest hadn't lessened, and as she replayed the events in her head it became nearly debilitating. The pain was moving up into her throat, she felt like she was choking. David at the wheel looked over, concern furrowing his brow, "Emma, what's wrong?"

All she could manage was to shake her head. "Pull over." She choked out. She wasn't sure how it came out; it had to have sounded more like garbles than actual words. David slowed to a stop, and before he could even put the break on, Emma was out of the car. The crisp winter air in Maine was perfect; it filled her lungs like with ice. She tried to breathe deeply, but it only came in gasps. She heard another car door open behind her, David approached behind her, "Emma, are you hurt?" Worried that they had somehow missed Emma getting injured, he moved closer. Reaching out to grab his daughters shoulder.

Emma shook his hand off; she couldn't bear to have someone touch her right now. Looking behind her, she caught Zelena's eyes from inside the back seat of the patrol car. A smirk was pasted on her evil lips. It was like she could see into Emma's soul, could see how completely torn apart she was. Emma was feeling things that she shouldn't be feeling. Emma was acting like her heart was broken, and it was, she just wasn't ready to admit to herself just how broken it was…and why.

"I'm just gonna take a walk, I'll meet you at Granny's." Emma finally responded to her father. The look on his face looked like he wanted to object. But if her parents had learned anything since getting their memories back, it was that they shouldn't push Emma. They were all still afraid she'd bolt and never come back. Because that's what Emma did when she felt threatened or pained, she ran away. Giving her one last worried glance, he just nodded and got back into his car.

The patrol car pulled away slowly, as if waiting for Emma to change her mind. But she just stood there, hands in her jacket pocket, and watched it disappear up the street. In the light of the streetlight the illuminated the corner she stood on, all she could see was her own breath. It was there in the frigid night air that she finally cried. Warm salty tears streamed down her face, and she looked up into the sky. She couldn't understand why it had taken her so long to realize what had been in front of her face the entire time. It didn't seem fair that the stars could still be shining, when the greatest light in the world was fading out.

"How will I tell Henry," She sobbed to herself in the dark. Her wet cheeks were growing cold, her tears turning to ice on her face. She couldn't bring herself to care though. Henry was going to be devastated. He had only just got Regina back, and now Emma was going to have to tell him that they were losing her again.

Losing her all over again… Only this time they'd remember everything. The worst part of all was that, this time, there was no curse to break. It wasn't magic that was taking her from them, it was life.

"I was supposed to bring back the Happy Endings…" Emma cried out, shouting into the night, "There is **no** happy ending now."

Emma's knees buckled, and she found herself sitting in a snow bank, "There is no happy ending without her."

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><p>It was there in the snow, covered in frost, rose colored cheeks and red rimmed eyes that Killian found her. "Oh love," He whispered as he pulled her up into his arms. His ice cold hook cut into her jacket as it bit into her back. She stood there stiff, even as he tried to comfort her. When she pushed him away it felt like he'd been hit by a wave in a storm. "Not now, Hook." She hissed. The look in her eyes said to stay away, but Hook was never very good at reading Emma's signs. He reached for her hand, trying to tug her in the direction of Granny's diner and warmth. "It's too cold out here, come on, I'll have Granny make you a cup of cocoa."<p>

"You don't get it," She stepped back, her voice low, "I don't want you, I don't want you to comfort me right now."

Stunned Killian stood there, lost for words, he stuttered, "Emma, I…I… I don't understand."

"It was never you, it's never been you, I can't love you, Killian." Emma breathed, her words falling like stones to the pavement. "But our kiss, Emma, I know that meant something to you…"

"I wish I could say it had," Her eyes were pained as she stood there and broke his heart. A part of her took joy in it, as she wouldn't be the only one hurting. But she didn't revel in that long, she didn't like causing anyone pain. And she wasn't entirely sure it had been fair for her to break his so soon. She just couldn't pretend anymore, she couldn't go on pretending that she loved someone when she didn't.

"It's Regina isn't it…" He stated grimly.

"It's always been her," Emma finally admitted to herself. Gasping, she clutched her chest, looking into the darkness, she smiled a sad smile. "I just regret it took me so long to realize it, and now it's too late."

Hook had no more words for Emma, he was hurt and shocked. A part of him had always suspected, but he had never imagined he would hear the words himself, and from Emma's own lips no less. The wound in his heart was deep, he had finally opened himself up to love again, after loving Milah for so long, and he'd gone and fallen in love with someone who didn't want him.

He couldn't stand there anymore, he couldn't stand there and watch her fall apart over someone else, and he couldn't stay while she only saw right through him. Not anymore, he laughed ironically to himself, "I gave up my ship for you, for that memory potion…to bring you and Henry back here."

"I'm supposed to be grateful you gave up your ship for me?" Emma chided with disgust. She was mourning, and wallowing in her newfound emotions, and he was trying to make her feel guilty over a damned boat. "Regina gave me and Henry our happy ending, she gave me memories of Henry that only a **mother** would have. And you expect me to be grateful you gave up a hunk of wood and rope for me!?"

He should have kept that to himself, his sudden declaration did nothing but make her sick. Is that how he had honestly planned on winning her over? For him to bring it up at such an inappropriate time...Emma shook her head, furious. "I have to go; I have to go explain to Henry why his other mother is laying in a hospital bed right now. I have to go explain to my son that his other mother isn't going to wake up. You can take your ship and shove it up your pirate ass, Hook."

She didn't look behind her, she didn't care to see his face as she strode past him. Wiping her cold cheeks on her sleeve, she strode down the street. When she reached the door to Granny's, she looking through the window and saw her son, Henry, laughing and enjoying a cup of cocoa with Ruby. Emma tried to smile, tried to steel herself for what she was about to go in there and tell him. There was no way to prepare herself though, she was going in there to deliver the grim reaper to the person she loved most in the world.

With one last sigh, Emma reached for the door handle, and stepped through the door into Granny's Diner… 

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><p><em>Author's Note: I'd like to say I hope you enjoyed this first chapter, but I'd be lying. I hope it broke your heart. I hope it was just as painful to read as it was for me to write. Update coming soon...<em>

_I don't own anything regarding OUAT._


	2. Chapter 2: Medicine

_Chapter 2_

_Medicine_

_This chapter was inspired by the song Medicine by Daughter._

_Hope you enjoy it. Or that it more or less rips your heart apart._

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><p>Emma hesitated as she stepped through the door, the whole diner went quiet. No one had heard anything back yet about the fight, but it's a small town, so everyone had seen and heard the ambulance. They'd seen the police car taking Zelena to the station, but they only had rumors to fuel their whispers. The look on Emma's face was enough to start more whispers. Henry looked up from his cocoa, a smile on his face, anxious to hear how it all went. Always the optimist, her kid, he must get that from his Charming grandparents. Emma's face was sullen as she approached the booth slowly. She didn't sit down, instead she pulled Henry up, and embraced him as if he might be lost too if she let go.<p>

"Ma?" He begged from her bear tight hug, "Ma!" He said a bit louder when Emma still didn't release him. "Where is everyone? Where's mom?"

That plea from her son was enough to tear her apart all over again. She didn't want to do this here; she didn't want to break this news to him in front of all the onlookers in the diner. She released Henry, but only long enough to grab his hand with her gloved one, and pull him to the back of the diner and up the stairs to their room. When they finally reached their room, Henry ripped his hand from Emma's with frustration, "What's going on?"

Emma turned slowly, clasping her hands together; there was no easy way to tell him this. "Did someone get hurt? I saw the ambulance, but no one knows anything solid yet." He was now growing frantic, as Emma's silence said more than she knew.

"Henry," Emma choked, "Regina, your mom, she's…" The words didn't want to come out, saying them out loud, especially to Henry made them so much more real. "Regina's at the hospital."

Henry was already heading for the door, running down the stairs. Emma chased him, bursting into the diner, following him as quickly as she could. His legs had grown longer with puberty, and he was harder to catch these days. "Henry!" She shouted after him as he burst from the diner. She was quick on his heels, and caught his arm right as he reached the street.

"How bad is it?" He shouted at her, "And don't lie to me anymore!"

Emma pursed her lips, she'd never been very good with tragedy, and now it was enveloping them both like a dense fog. "She hit her head, Henry; she's not in good condition…" Emma couldn't bring herself to tell him that she was dying. He would figure that out on his own soon enough. She'd save him the gory details; he didn't need to visualize all the blood…There had been so much blood. Emma's stomach turned remembering it.

"Well what are we waiting for? We should be at the hospital." He was already getting into Emma's yellow Volkswagen Beetle.

* * *

><p>They drove in silence to the hospital, which thankfully was only a block away. Thank goodness for small towns. Henry didn't leave her time to park; as soon as she slowed near the entrance he bolted from the car and ran inside. Not caring about parking and being daughter of the acting sheriff she didn't worry about a ticket, she bounded in after her son. By the time she reached the front desk Henry was already off again. He'd barely waited for the receptionist to tell him what room his mom was in before he'd set off at a run again.<p>

She finally caught up to him as he stood outside of room 118, he hadn't gone in yet, he stood there, looking in the window at the sleeping figure in the bed. The stark white room with all its machines whirling, the figure in a crisp gown, tucked under pristine sheets. It looked fake. It didn't look real. But the clipboard outside the door that read, "Regina Mills" was all too real. Sitting beside the bed was none other than Robin Hood, or whatever his name was in this realm.

Emma looked in, taking in every detail, pausing to look at her son's face, to see him processing it too. They didn't speak, they just stood there, and Emma reached for Henry's hand squeezing it gently. He looked up at Emma, or these days it was more eye to eye, and she saw the tears swimming there.

* * *

><p>When they entered the room, Robin stood up and mumbled something about coffee before disappearing. Emma was grateful he left, seeing him so close to Regina made her feel something ugly, but she didn't want to call it jealousy. To call it jealousy wouldn't be fair to him, or to Regina. Regina was happy with Robin, Emma had witnessed that herself. She still couldn't help feeling like Regina belonged to her though. With a sigh, she watched Henry approach Regina's bed slowly. He sat in the chair Robin had just vacated, drawing it closer to the bed; he clutched his mother's still hand.<p>

Emma couldn't bring herself to touch Regina, not when she was still struggling to deal with the emotions swirling in her heart. Was she really in love with Regina Pain-in-the-ass Mills? Her eyes fixed on Regina's face, Emma remembered how much her life changed when Henry brought her to Storybrooke. How she'd encountered the most intimidating and uptight woman on the planet, and how Regina had frustrated the hell out of her. How they'd fought, but when it came to saving one another they did so without question. How when Henry's life had been in danger, they'd stopped at nothing to get him back. How they'd created realm transcending magic numerous times to save this town. They'd been through so much together, and now they were here.

The monitors were an eerie white noise, the clicks of the machine saving everything was like the ticking of a clock, and Emma couldn't stop thinking that she'd missed her chance. Her chance to see that she'd felt so deeply for Regina all along. The worst part was, she wasn't sure how long Regina would lie like this before her brain finally gave up. Was it even fair to keep her on the machines?

Emma perked up when she caught movement outside the room, Doctor Whale was ushering her over. She peered at Henry, seeing his cheeks wet, but his eyes closed as he cradled his mother's hand. She'd let him sleep for now, this was a lot to handle.

"Ms. Swan, I'm glad you're here. As Regina has no family other than Henry, I would like to relay her charts to you. Oddly enough, she has you listed as her emergency contact." Dr. Whale spoke while flipping through Regina's folder. They'd already run a few tests, testing her brain activity, and they'd stapled the wound in her head closed. They'd then wrapped her head in gauze to slow the bleeding. Emma was shocked to hear Regina had her as an emergency contact, but she didn't over think it. It was probably because of Henry.

"We managed to get the wound closed up nicely, and she lost a lot of blood but we did what we could for that." He was dragging it out, Emma could feel it; he was putting off what she already knew he was going to say. "But, I'm afraid her brain isn't responding the way it should. We're running machines to keep her heart pumping and her lungs filtering oxygen….for now, she's still alive." He paused, looking sadly into Emma's eyes, "I'm not sure how long the machines will keep her alive though, if her brain doesn't wake up, she'll remain in a vegetative state."

Emma closed her eyes tightly, trying not to let any tears fall in front of Whale; this was no place for her to be turning soft. It's not an easy thing to hear though, that the woman you just realized you love is not likely to wake up. The only things keeping her alive are machines. Emma put the back of her hand to her mouth, to stifle a sob. The Evil Queen, Regina Mills, the woman who had once held so much power in her hands, who had moved realms with her magic, was dying because her brain wouldn't wake up.

"Even if she did wake up, there's only a 5% chance she'd regain the function she once had, there's been too much damage. I'm sorry…" Dr. Whale didn't stick around long after delivering more apologies. He left it up to Emma to tell Henry that his mother wasn't going to wake up. At least she wasn't telling Henry that his mother was outright dead.

"Henry, honey," She shook him awake gently, offering him a tissue to dry his wet cheeks. She sat him down on the small loveseat that was in the corner of the room by the window, and told him a shorter version of what Dr. Whale had told her. She tried not to let her emotions show through too much, because this wasn't about her, this was about Henry and she needed to be strong for him.

"This is great news, she could wake up," He exclaimed excitedly.

"No, kid, look you're misunderstanding. The doctor says these sorts of things to soften the blow. The chances she'll wake up aren't likely." Emma's voice cracked, "I don't want you to get your hopes up. This is just how these things work."

"Isn't Grams always saying, 'The most important thing anyone can have is hope.'?"

Emma gaze fell to the hands she was clasping tightly in her lap. She wished she had the optimism of the rest of her family, but it seemed to have skipped a generation. "We can 'hope' all we want Henry, but the reality is, your mom was badly injured, and it's damaged her brain. She's a vegetable…"

Henry blanched as if she'd struck him. She hadn't meant to lose control; she hadn't meant to say that so harshly, the look on his face now made her regret every word. She wanted to grab the words back, stuff them in her big mouth and swallow them before they could hurt someone who was already hurting enough. She had no right to squash his hope, just because she didn't have any. "Henry, I'm sorry, that wasn't fair for me to say."

"It's okay, Ma, we're both hurting right now." He gave her a big hug before pulling away and mentioning something about flowers.

* * *

><p>Emma stood in the room alone; she didn't know what to do. She didn't feel comfortable sitting in the chair by the bed, which was too intimate. She didn't know how to behave. She smiled to herself slightly as it crossed her mind that this should be easier with Regina unconscious. But instead she found it just as nerve wracking. She didn't know how long she stood there, hands resting on the foot of the hospital bed, gazing down at Regina. It looked so wrong, her lying in the bed, her red lipstick missing from her face, gauze about her head, and a paper hospital gown around her shoulders. The tubes going into her mouth and nose were all wrong too. It looked like Regina, and it didn't look like Regina at all. Regina was always so strong, so poised, and this person lying in the bed was so vulnerable and exposed. It made Emma's chest ache.<p>

"I want to believe you'll wake up, I really do," Emma spoke softly, taking advantage of the room being vacant except the two of them, "But if you wake, will you even want me?"

* * *

><p>Robin stood outside the room, listening as Emma spoke to an unresponsive Regina. It was starting to make sense to him now, the long looks, the lingering touches, and the look on Emma's face when Regina had fallen. He didn't know how to handle this, his Soul Mate was lying in a coma, and the birth mother of Regina's son was in love with her? It felt wrong, him standing outside the room eves dropping. He didn't wait too long before entering the room with two coffees in his hand, he cleared his throat loudly.<p>

Emma looked up startled as Robin entered the room. He carried two coffees, thankfully he handed one of them to her. She sipped it gratefully. She had a feeling she wouldn't be sleeping tonight, or any other night any time soon.

"I just passed Henry in the gift shop; I think he was trying to buy every flower arrangement they had in there." He chuckled softly.

"Oh god thanks," Emma said shuffling out of the room to go wrangle her overzealous son.

* * *

><p>She never made it to the flower shop though, as she was passing a window in the hospital, something caught her eye. Looking out into the darkness, a beam of light was lighting up the distance. It was coming in the exact same direction as the barn where Zelena had been enacting her time spell. Emma groaned, was the Savior's job never finished?<p>

She ran back to room 118 and quickly asked Robin if he could be sure to call David to pick up Henry. Without any other explanation, except an OK from Robin, she was running out the door and hopping into her car that was still parked at the entrance of the hospital.

Zooming across the little town, she grumbled, "I really fucking hate magic, sometimes."

The beam was definitely coming from the barn, when she jumped out of her car the barn doors were blown wide and the light coming from within was blinding. It almost looked like the barn was on fire.

"What on earth is that?" A voice shouted behind her. Emma turned, only to find none other than Killian Jones…Hook, standing not five feet from her.

"What are you doing here, Hook?" Emma shouted back. Of all the places to run into the pirate again, it had to be near another magical catastrophe?

"I saw the beam, and came running," He responded snidely, as if she should have known why he was there.

"I'm going to go in and see what's causing this, stay out here." She instructed him, knowing full well he'd ignore her orders whether she said anything or not. Hook wasn't the best at listening, or following orders. That was probably why he became a pirate to begin with.

The inside of the barn was a whirlwind, light was pouring from the inside of the magic circle Zelena had scratched into the dirty floor. Emma cursed, whatever it was, she needed to get closer to try and shut it down. There was probably something triggering it. She just needed to figure out what the trigger was and eliminate it.

Stepping closer she stumbled, or had she been pushed?

She wailed as the beam embraced her, all she saw was whiteness; everything was too bright to see anything.

All the while in Storybrooke, the barn had gone dark. The beam of light had completely vanished.

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><p>Author's Note: I wanted to get chapter 2 done quickly. Chapter 3 will probably be along in a few days or so. Thanks for reading!<p>

I don't own anything regarding OUAT.


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